WOLVERINE: THE ORIGIN #6
"Origin, Part VI of VI: Dust to Dust"
Mildly Recommended (5/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writers: Paul Jenkins, Bill Jemas & Joe Quesada
Pencils: Andy Kubert
Digital painting: Richard Isanove
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Mike Marts
Price: $3.50 US/$5.75 CAN |
This final issue of this top-selling limited series boasts the same strong art we've seen throughout its run, but its plotting pales in comparison to those that came before. The trio of writers finally did something rather new with the title character, but here, we see him falling back into familiar circumstances, making for a predictable -- and therefore anti-climactic -- read.
Logan learns that Smitty and Rose plan to marry, and though it doesn't come as a complete surprise, he is devastated by the news. To make matters worse, they're planning to move away, promising to separate Logan from the woman he has secretly loved for so long. Smitty enters a cage fighting match planned for the night before his departure in order to raise some quick cash, and some familiar faces enter the contest as well. Meanwhile, Dog finally learns of his prey's location and makes his move.
Kubert and Isanove's collaboration here definitely conveys a sense of the historic and the wild. This looks like a classic Western tale, but it's set in a lush landscape as opposed to an arid one. The intensity of the characters shines through, and Kubert's interpretation of the title character's claws and the flesh than surrounds them is painfully convincing.
As soon as I saw the barroom cage in this issue, I was immediately put in mind of Wolverine's first appearance in the X-Men movie... and not pleasantly so. The moment struck me as a forced link to the big-screen incarnation of the character. The shocking climax of this issue really wasn't all that shocking. Given the character's tragic tone, there seemed to be no other outcome that could have been possible.
Though this is the final issue of this limited series, it certainly doesn't feel like a conclusion. Dog's fate is completely omitted from the story. Obviously, the folks at Marvel are leaving the door open for the inevitable followup series, but that open door is frustrating for the reader. It's as though we've been robbed of an ending, of any sense of closure for this particular tale.
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